Are these trades made in a trend or in a range?
Both, but of course favoring the trend unless the range is really wide. There is one type of trade that I'm exploring which is a REV trade based on a rejection of a prominent level. SLA would still get you into the trade because eventually you will have a line break with a RET setting up. But as Db says, losing the lines is important, and I do understand this.
The most important parts are the extremes, the levels beyond which trades can't find trades. If they break through, you buy after the first RET, if they reject it, you sell after the first RET. If the rejection puts you back into a trading range that you may have been stuck in, this is where context comes in to tell you not to trade. I think Db said something smart+funny once (ok... not just once.. LOL), but it was something like "if traders don't know what they want, how I am supposed to know?" So if you're stuck in a range, this tells you both buyers and sellers agree on price, so you wait till you leave this range.
Its also difficult because you gotta look at different time frames, and Db often shows 1 min charts, 5 min charts, hourly and daily. The reasons for this are, as he says, its just easier to make money if you're trading in the right direction, and knowing the LOLR and the context helps point you in the right direction. But you also gotta be completely prepared to change your mind on a dime if what you see in the now moment shows a change in the trend you were expecting.